Vicky sent me a link to a very interesting recipe that was a bit of a combination of the garlic jelly and the sweet chili jam. It uses dry white wine for an interesting flavor change in either of the other recipes. The wine adds the acidity needed not only to stabilize the pH of the low acid peppers, garlic and onions but also to insure that the pectin will set properly.If you don't use alcohol in your house you can use red wine, cider or plain white vinegar that is 5% acidity, but you will get a different taste to the jelly. Vicky adapted the recipe from "Cooking with Mary and friends" and ask me if it was safe for canning. Here is the recipe that is now a favorite on cream cheese with crackers or a baguette or smeared on chicken, pork or fish as a tangy finish when cooked. Thanks again Vicky for your inspiration. Onion Garlic Pepper JellyIngredients1 3/4 cup dry white wine (Vicky used Pinot Grigio by Liberty Creek)1/4 cup white wine vinegar (If you don't use alcohol use 2 cups of vinegar)1/2 cup finely chopped yellow sweet onion (you can use red onion as well - see below)4 tbls. minced garlic 2 tsp. course-ground black pepper ( or freshly ground black pepper)1 dried crushed long red chili peppers1 dried crushed Jalapeno peppers (Vicky used 1 dried peter peppers)1 pkg. Sure-Jell (pectin)3 1/2 cups sugar

Preparation: Prepare
7 half pint jars, lids, and
rings. Sterilize the jars and keep them in the hot water till it’s time for
processing. Make sure to fill your water bath canner and get the water to a
simmer. Prepare onions, peppers, and garlic.

Cooking:In a large stock pot stir together the wine, vinegar, onion,
garlic, black pepper, crushed peppers and sure-jell. Bring mixture to a rolling
boil over med-high heat stirring constantly. Quickly stir in sugar and bring
back to a rolling boil. Boil and stir 1 minute

Filling the jars: On a dishtowel
place your hot jars and using your funnel, ladle to fill to 1/4"
headspace. Remove air bubbles and refill to the proper headspace with the
mixture if necessary. Taking a clean papertowel wet it with warm water and wipe
the rims of the jars removing any food particles that would interfere with a
good seal. Using your magic wand extract the lids from the hot water and place
them on the now cleaned rims. Add your rings to the tops of each of the jars
and turn to seal just "finger tight".

Processing: Make sure your rack is on the bottom of
the canner and place the jars in the water bath making sure that the water
covers each of the jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add hot water to the canner if it
doesn't measure up. Cover the pot and turn up the heat under the canner and
wait for the water to start boiling. Once the water has come to a boil start
your timer for 10 minutes. When complete turn off the heat and remove the cover
and let the jars sit for another few minutes. Remove the jars and place them
back on the dishtowel in a place that they will sit overnight to cool. Gently shake jars
once sealed from time to time to evenly distribute the onions, garlic and black
pepper. Do not bang
on the jars as you may unseal them. You can skip this step if you are
uncomfortable with doing this step. Leave them on the dishtowels till the next
morning.

Sealing: Sometime in the next hour your jars will be making a
"pinging" or "popping" noise. That is the glass cooling and
the reaction of the lids being sucked into the jar for proper sealing. Some
recipes may take overnight to seal. Check your lids and reprocess any jars that
did not seal.

Labeling: Make sure to label your jars after they have cooled
with the name of the recipe and the date canned. If you want to use the
shrink labels in the picture you can order them Here!

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Altitude Adjustments

The gel point method is also noted in many cookbooks and is a process to test the gel of a jam, jelly or preserve. There are two methods of testing using a spoon or a plate.

SHEET TEST

Dip a cold metal spoon into the boiling soft spread. Lift the spoon and hold it horizontally with edge down so that the syrup runs off the edge. As the mixture cooks, the drops will become heavier and will drop off the spoon separately but two at a time. When the two drops join together and “sheet” off the spoon, the gel stage has been reached.

FREEZER TEST

Chill a small saucers in the freezer. Place a teaspoonful of soft spread on the chilled saucer and place in the freezer for 1 minute. Remove the saucer from the freezer and push the edge of the spread with your finger. A mixture that has reached the gel stage will be set, and the surface will wrinkle when the edge is pushed.